What I DIDN’T Watch: Just Makeup.
“Korea’s first-ever makeup survival show highlights all things K-beauty. Top makeup artists and creators compete, showcasing their skills. Expect stunning visuals and techniques as they unveil new looks with each mission. The tension is high as they vie for the title of No. 1 makeup artist. Get ready for a survival show filled with dazzling beauty.”
I thought that I would like it – fun makeup, cultural immersion, and KPop – but it vacillated between boring and cruel (although some of that might have been context lost in the AI translation).
I also didn’t watch this, although I kept thinking that it would be very enjoyable while stoned or tripping:
In a celebration of skill, precision, creativity and joy, Blow Up Australia transforms the humble balloon into jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring artistic creations. Prepare to suspend belief as 10 incredibly talented Australian balloon artists converge on the Blow Up studio to weave their magic. What they will achieve will be mind-blowing.
What I Read: Secrets of the Catalogue (The Librarians Book 1) by Amelia Spencer; it was okay, but the love interest was controlling and felt superfluous to the plot.
Amazon blurb: Eight years ago, Emerson Blackwell’s mother died in a tragic fire and she booked a one-way ticket to New York City to escape her grief. But the trauma of her past comes rushing back when she uncovers a Library in the heart of the city where the books are doorways to magical worlds. However, The Central Library responsible for publishing books in the Catalogue is banning books and hunting down authors that The Central Library claims are dangerous. When Emerson finds out her mother is alive and publishing banned books, the question arises–are these books dangerous? Or is The Central Library hiding something? As Emerson becomes entangled in a web of secrets, political rivalries, and conspiracies, she rekindles a romance with her first love, who is secretly working with her mother against The Central Library. However, tensions rise when Emerson finds herself drawn to the son of The Central Library’s Head Librarian–her mother’s greatest enemy. Now, Emerson must uncover the truth. Is her mother a villain, or is The Central Library keeping secrets from its Librarians? Secrets of the Catalogue is a dark academia fantasy romance set in a hidden New York City library where the books open portals to magical worlds. Secrets of the Catalogue is a captivating tale of love, adventure, and the blurred line between fiction and reality. Perfect for fans of political intrigue, slow burn romance, secret societies, and hidden libraries!
What I Listened To: Raffaella Carrà, Marlon Hoffstadt, Mark Ronson, and Andrew Wyatt – Rumore (Remix); Clothesline From Hell – Truest Sound; and Melting Palms – Maze (9 minutes of music):
Thank you for playing Brain Drain! How are you, Darling DeadSplinterites? What’s going on, dearest ones? Please do share with us!
The screen shot of Just Makeup – are those all the models they used for their display?
It’s this weird thing in my brain of okay I get it, they want consistency so that you can accurately compare skills across artists but also okay if you’re only doing makeup on one variation of human appearance and skipping other skin tones, textures, ages, etc, are you really a good artist or can you just do one thing? But then also not watching the show, if this is a thing of these makeup artists are competing to work in good jobs in South Korea? Well shit isn’t South Korea pretty homogenous racially so would the knowledge and abilities to know things like how to color balance dark spots on darker skin tones even matter?
I have thoughts, clearly. And I think I need more caffeine to process them.
Also lots of plastic surgery. Apparently my relatives are pretty goddamned vain. For reasons I don’t understand, the youngs want to look like white people or at least the anime versions of white people.
One sister visited Korea with mom (I told her bad idea (the traveling with mom part) but she didn’t listen which led to her whining and moaning about the terrible experience as we shook our heads at her.)
Anyway, she was told she looked so young (or old) because she didn’t get all the surgeries that turn her into a K-pop girl as Korean Millenials and Gen Zs were/are getting.
I find it somewhat ironic as a person who was rejected by my then peers in the Korean community in part because I was “too white” and had too many white friends (more than zero.) Now their kids are trying to look like how I sounded and acted.
The universe loves irony.
Yeah it’s definitely a thing. It’s frustrating too because there are some things about K-beauty that have benefitted literally everyone who uses skin care due to popularity. You probably don’t notice it, but in the last 10 years, it’s like suddenly all the major brands finally discovered SPF and the importance of it. Like when we all were younger? You put on sunblock to go to the beach or if you’re going to the pool all day. Buy special sunblock for your face? HAHAHA. Ok, maybe if you’re *gasp* old or really really worried about it, we’ll make a version of our day moisturizer with SPF 12 in it. That should work, right? GOOD ENOUGH!
And I love it now, as someone who wears SPF 50+ every day. I love how all these brands got caught flat-footed when the K-beauty brands got popular with their ridiculously good sunblocks and advocating for wearing it daily.
I remember a decade ago, my mom got super mad when people started buying up HER makeup brands especially non Koreans…
I had to throw out a lot of used jars of her main skin makeup (she loaded up on her brands but then went thru them because she forgot or misplaced a jar.)
There was a 3 part series recently made about Andrea Yates and her murdering her children back in the early 2000s. I watched it this week, twice since I was distracted a few times the first go around with things like laundry and cooking. The series was excellent because it focused on the Christian doomsday cult she was a member of. We all knew she was suffering from post-partum depression and post-partum psychosis to kill those kids, right? But understanding the religious miasma she lived in and what she believed? Combined with the psychosis? HOLY SHIT.
Also fuck her fucking dickbag husband. That motherfucker talked about how their faith was one of how you just want as many kids as the Lord will give you, and she was “sick” after the fourth kid but he figured if she got sick again, it would be like the flu and she’d just take meds again and get well.
…so…two options for the basically-I-want-rubbish thing in a skimming-above-mindless-rubbish sort of way
…the john wick adjacent ballerina thing is…& I can’t emphasize this strongly enough…*exactly* what you’d think…& thus as fun/funny as you’d expect…if you can remember which bits of the 4 films a couple of bits anchor it to it kinda does the sin city thing of bolting it on to those but it would be barely more or less comprehensible nonsense if you had or hadn’t seen those
…also…the rip…sometimes I’ll get pointlessly narked with constantly being offered something by a streaming service interface & it makes me go watch something else but I saw somewhere they did a deal on that one that’s a first & basically if it gets watched enough times to be “doing numbers” for netflix some of the numbers it does directly translate into numbers on bonus checks to the whole production…everyone involved as I understand it…so…for that I’ll give ben affleck the extra viewing figure?
…it’s not kurosawa or anything but it’s got a couple of things it does that are either astute or cute depending on how disposed you are to sound impressed by that aren’t exactly important in a plot sense but seem like they might imply they know their audience pretty well…so, I guess you probably wouldn’t feel like you failed to choose wisely even if choosing the rip is not exactly stating that wisdom is the object of your exercise?
John Wick universe is becoming too full of itself with a mystical universe of hidden assassins around every corner. It’s almost as bad as the Matrix.
I enjoyed the movies to lesser degrees as the sequels became more and more. I’m glad Wick ended his rampage.
It’s why in part looking back in retrospect that I’m glad that Grosse Point Blank never got a real sequel. It could have been an agnsty Wick, but with the same ending.
…I think if you have “my suit jacket can stop a rocket” rules then it’s just a live action cartoon & I’ve developed a pretty extensive tolerance for batshit cartoons
…but that sounds pretty valid all the same
Last night I finished “Wreck” by Catherine Newman. It’s not typically my style because the book doesn’t have much of a driving plot, but it’s so funny and engaging that it carried me along very easily. The humor is super deadpan and just comes out of nowhere. Which is exactly my thing. I’ll definitely be checking out her other books.
I know I sound like a broken record, but we’re still watching Silent Witness about forensic pathologists. We’re into season 19, and we’re averaging about 20 autopsies per week. It’s not easy, but now it’s a matter of pride that we finish this shit. It may stand as our greatest accomplishment. Only 9 seasons left to go. I’m not sure I’m comfortable with my wife learning all the ways you can kill a husband without leaving a trace. Pray for me.
@Luigi Vuoto
We just finished the new season. Hang in there. When you’re done with all the seasons you can start on 25 seasons of Midsommer Murders.
WATCHED:
Us old people gotta do resistance exercises.
LISTENED:
Christmas gift vinyl: R.E.M. – Murmur
I’m just starting my fourth year of strength training and it’s doing wonders. The trick for me was to start slow and be consistent. Now I’m a beast in the gym and I’m thinking of getting some ink but my wife says no but if I do get tattooed it will at least make it easier to identify remains when they find me buried under a pile of goat manure in the garden.